# What your Dad, Grandpa, or Uncle smoked



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

I have been smoking a pipe now for about 8 months, and as more time passes by, I am able to try and enjoy many different tobacco's. My uncle smoked a pipe for 60 plus years, but never smoked anything other than Half and Half and Prince Albert to my knowledge. He passed away at 93, and I catch myself wishing that we could have smoked together, and I could have introduced him to other tobacco. I honestly believe he would have liked 1792, FVF, Braken Flake, etc. Do any of you ever wish you could have introduced a passed family member to something different?


----------



## Arizona (Jul 19, 2007)

I know my great grandfather smoked a pipe. He was a farmer in Quincy, Illinois til his death in 1954. I dont know what blend he smoked but I've got a pic someplace of him in his bib overalls with pipe in his teeth.


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

Arizona said:


> I know my great grandfather smoked a pipe. He was a farmer in Quincy, Illinois til his death in 1954. I dont know what blend he smoked but I've got a pic someplace of him in his bib overalls with pipe in his teeth.


What would you have packed into his pipe?


----------



## KevinV (Jun 24, 2009)

My Dad smoked Sir Walter Raleigh and sometimes mixed it up with Mixture 79. I don't know what my grandfathers smoked.


----------



## teedles915 (Jun 18, 2009)

Normally I lurk around the the cigar area but I saw this post and had to jump in. My grandpa was a pipe smoker. He was a Prince Albert man. After he passed I got all of his pipes along with his holder and tobacco jar. They sit right next to my humidor. I've never been a pipe smoker but I wish he was around I'd love for him to teach me. I've thought many time about firing one of his pipes up as a tribute, but I would have no clue where to start they, have been sitting for 12 years. 

Thanks for the post and the memories.


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

teedles915 said:


> Normally I lurk around the the cigar area but I saw this post and had to jump in. My grandpa was a pipe smoker. He was a Prince Albert man. After he passed I got all of his pipes along with his holder and tobacco jar. They sit right next to my humidor. I've never been a pipe smoker but I wish he was around I'd love for him to teach me. I've thought many time about firing one of his pipes up as a tribute, but I would have no clue where to start they, have been sitting for 12 years.
> 
> Thanks for the post and the memories.


Personally, I can't think of a better way you could honor him. If he was anything like my uncle, after a few laughs, and some choice words he would have enjoyed the teaching moment.


----------



## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

My great-grandpa smoked H&H, Velvet, Kentucky Club, SWR, sometimes Captain Black and Roitan cigars. Grandfather on the other side of the family smoked PA.


----------



## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

My Dad smoked a pipe while in Korea and Vietnam, but I have no idea what brand/blend he smoked.


----------



## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

I don't know, but very likely it was one of the common drug store varieties. 

Say I'm condescending, but I feel sorry for the old timers who only had the (to put it politely) unspectacular tobacco available to them - and didn't even know there were great blends worth seeking out. Depending on where you lived, you might have never seen (or heard of) a tin of Dunhill tobacco back in the day. 

Truly, with the info on the net and online shopping, we are living in a golden age of pipe tobacco. Damn shame that NO ONE seems to smoke pipes anymore. This group is definitely the exception when you think about how overwhelmingly common pipe smoking was fifty years ago.


----------



## Sovereign (Jun 17, 2008)

No one in my family smoked pipes. The ones who did smoke were into cigarettes


----------



## SmokinJohnny (Jan 21, 2009)

My dad smoked cigs along with many relatives. I don't recall any relatives who smoked pipes. A co-worker of my dad who visited frequently chain smoked a pipe as they talked and laughed. I don't remember what he smoked but I loved the aroma. I was intrigued by the act of pipe smoking as well. My dad never took up pipe smoking because he didn't like the taste. It's likely he assumed all tobaccos are alike, tried one or two drug store blends (that maybe his friend smoked) that didn't go over well, and stopped there.


----------



## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Well, the only thing we smoke out of a pipe is weed, no tobacco. Love the cigars though and one day will venture out and get a real pipe and some baccy to enjoy. I am becoming increasingly curious about the pipe.


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

drastic_quench said:


> I don't know, but very likely it was one of the common drug store varieties.
> 
> Say I'm condescending, but I feel sorry for the old timers who only had the (to put it politely) unspectacular tobacco available to them - and didn't even know there were great blends worth seeking out. Depending on where you lived, you might have never seen (or heard of) a tin of Dunhill tobacco back in the day.
> 
> Truly, with the info on the net and online shopping, we are living in a golden age of pipe tobacco. Damn shame that NO ONE seems to smoke pipes anymore. This group is definitely the exception when you think about how overwhelmingly common pipe smoking was fifty years ago.


I understand exactly what you are saying. Smoking a pipe has become less common, just like real men have become less common. I look back, and honestly remember thinking, I want to do/be that one day. It was always a joke that my uncle was either cleaning his pipe, smoking his pipe, or packing his pipe. Other men would come over, sit around the coffee table, talk religion, politics, and women, all under a cloud of pipe smoke. What I would give now to be one of those men at that table. I was just a kid at the time, but the memories are just as clear as my thoughts today.


----------



## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

My dad smoked and still smokes a pipe but has no brand loyalty. As a kid, I found empty cans of Edgeworth, Carter Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh, Prince Albert, Half & Half and a few others I can't recall. Now he smokes the cheap stuff in a bag from the drugstore... sometimes cherry blend, sometimes amaretto, sometimes black cavendish, etc etc.

Then again, I have 20 or so favorites, too!

Grandfather smoked Salem cigarettes for about 60 years and developed emphysema. Father has smoked a pipe for about that same amount of time and has no attendant ailments he's aware of.


----------



## ZedR2 (Jul 6, 2008)

My Grandfather was a prominent businessman and started out as a licensed auto mechanic and then he owned his own garage and then a Hupmobile Dealership ( _yes this goes back to the 1930's as I am 56 years old_ )

He smoked a pipe and his favorite brand of cigars were *El Producto* , I can remember as a kid he would take the bands off of each cigar and place them under the glass of the coffee table and any surface in the house that could hold them , he also had them glued to all the surfaces in his office, wall to wall El Producto cigar bands is what his customers saw , well the local paper did a story about him and his favorite El Producto cigars and the word got out to El Producto and they payed him a visit to his store and surprisingly El Producto gave him 'Free Cigars For Life' , he never had to buy another one !
He lived to be in his 80's but died in an auto accident , he also smoked around 8 cigars a day ..

Here is a pic of my Grandfather taken around the mid 1960's

*Thanks for Looking & Listening !*


----------



## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I'm not sure what my grandfather smoked, but I'm sure he would have sneered at the idea of these 'fancy-pants' tobaccos we smoke now.


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

MarkC said:


> I'm not sure what my grandfather smoked, but I'm sure he would have sneered at the idea of these 'fancy-pants' tobaccos we smoke now.


I know my Uncle would have sneered at the idea, but I would have still tried to refine him...........Not sure he could have been refined, or needed to be refined.


----------



## KevinV (Jun 24, 2009)

Zed...

Very cool story, thanks for sharing it.


----------



## Griz (May 10, 2009)

My Uncle smoked cigs for years. He quit, for medical reasons, then picked up a pipe. He seems to favor Carter Hall. Having nothing similar, I gave him a tin of Frog Morton and McClelland Autumn Evening.

We'll see what happens.


----------



## garydh2000 (Dec 22, 2008)

Grandpap smoked Half n Half and Dad smoked Kentucky Club.


----------



## Cletus (Apr 8, 2009)

My Grandpa smoked Prince Albert while my Grandma dipped snuff.

I remember as a kid popping my Grandpa's pipe in my mouth and taking a draw (unlit, of course). Even back then I enjoyed the flavor.

As an adult I've only smoked cigars but I'm getting more curious to try a pipe.

.


----------



## sounds7 (Mar 25, 2009)

Dad and Granddad were farm folk from the ozark mountains of south western Missouri. The pipes they bought and the tobacco they smoked were all available at the 5 and Dime. They smoked PA in Dr. Grabow or Granddad rolled his own Cigs with the same tobacco.


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

sounds7 said:


> Dad and Granddad were farm folk from the ozark mountains of south western Missouri. The pipes they bought and the tobacco they smoked were all available at the 5 and Dime. They smoked PA in Dr. Grabow or Granddad rolled his own Cigs with the same tobacco.


Many in my family were also farmers. My grandpa is 90 years old, and still has a garden that is larger than most.


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

OK, I haven't read any new good stories. I know there are more out there to be posted


----------



## ZedR2 (Jul 6, 2008)

KevinV said:


> Zed...
> 
> Very cool story, thanks for sharing it.


Thanks ! :thumb:


----------



## skittles (Jul 11, 2009)

My Dad smoked Captin Black Gold he also bought a blend from a guy that owned a vacuum sweeper store, I never could figure that out vacuums and pipe tobacco.


----------



## parris001 (Mar 29, 2008)

I recently acquired my Grandpa's old pipes, the rack and humidor with two pouches of tobacco still in it. My Uncle Lester had them and was the only one of the boys that still smoked. His sons are hugely anti-tobacco (North Carolina boys, hhmmm, go figure) and wanted him to just "throw that evil old junk out." 

Not surprised to find the Borkum Riff in there. My dad smoked the same when I was a tot. The Royal Comfort I ad never heard of. And I don't know if you can make out the price tag on the BR but it's Eckerd's @ 59 cents.


----------



## parris001 (Mar 29, 2008)

gboyet93 said:


> I understand exactly what you are saying. Smoking a pipe has become less common, just like real men have become less common. I look back, and honestly remember thinking, I want to do/be that one day. It was always a joke that my uncle was either cleaning his pipe, smoking his pipe, or packing his pipe. Other men would come over, sit around the coffee table, talk religion, politics, and women, all under a cloud of pipe smoke. What I would give now to be one of those men at that table. I was just a kid at the time, but the memories are just as clear as my thoughts today.


Boy, that was a simpler time wasn't it. And that circle of men we remember were honest, hard working men. You just stirred a great memory. Thanks.


----------



## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

parris001 said:


> I recently acquired my Grandpa's old pipes, the rack and humidor with two pouches of tobacco still in it. My Uncle Lester had them and was the only one of the boys that still smoked. His sons are hugely anti-tobacco (North Carolina boys, hhmmm, go figure) and wanted him to just "throw that evil old junk out."
> 
> Not surprised to find the Borkum Riff in there. My dad smoked the same when I was a tot. The Royal Comfort I ad never heard of. And I don't know if you can make out the price tag on the BR but it's Eckerd's @ 59 cents.


I may be close to your dad's age, or at least I am in your dad's generation. I also smoked Borkum Riff when I was in college and graduate school (1966-71). Also Captain Black and, yes, Mixture 79 and Middleton's Cherry Blend. Ah, was I ever really that young?


----------



## gboyet93 (Jul 21, 2008)

parris001 said:


> Boy, that was a simpler time wasn't it. And that circle of men we remember were honest, hard working men. You just stirred a great memory. Thanks.


You are correct, that was a much simpler time. The circle of men we remember also told wonderful tall tales, and fish stories that grew with each repeat. Those men were honest and hard working. A hand shake was a mans bond, and would not be broken.


----------



## KevinV (Jun 24, 2009)

parris...

Cool gift. I enjoy my Dad's old pipe. It's nothing fancy, but the memories are priceless.


----------



## Dedalus (Dec 10, 2008)

Had a great uncle that smoked something with a brandy topping. Not sure what it was though. As for dad, he smokes whatever I send him :lol:


----------

